On September 3, the second round of the men's basketball World Cup round of 16 kicked off, and a match in Group J ushered in the match between the Greek men's basketball team and the Montenegrin men's basketball team. Prior to this match, the two sides had already decided to miss the quarterfinals, so this match turned into a battle for glory. It was thought that Greece, which had won the European Championship twice, had the upper hand, but they did not expect to face the little-known Montenegro team and encountered great difficulties. After four quarters of fierce battle, Montenegro narrowly defeated Greece with a score of 73-69, which caused a certain degree of surprise.
The Greek men's basketball team used to be one of the strongest teams in world basketball, but due to the absence of the World Cup due to injury, Greece did not have the opportunity to win the championship, which is a pity. Despite the ups and downs in the group stage, Greece managed to qualify for the rematch as second in the group. Unfortunately, Greece suffered a crushing defeat against Lithuania and missed out on advancing to the quarter-finals. At the same time, the Montenegrin men's basketball team went all out for three and a half quarters in the fierce confrontation with the United States, but unfortunately failed to create a miracle in the end, losing by 12 points and leaving the Greek team. Win or lose, this match has become the final battle for both sides in this World Cup.
Moraitis, Papayannis, Papanikau, Rogkavopros and Wokapu are the starting line-up for Greece. Montenegro, on the other hand, consisted of Vučević, Šimonović, Radončic, Popović and Ivanovic.
After the first quarter, Montenegro managed to take the lead thanks to the excellent performances of Vucevic and Ivanovic. However, with the help of Papanikau's three-pointer, Greece gradually stopped its decline. Despite this, Montenegro opened a double-digit deficit thanks to Vucevic's leadership, resulting in Greece scoring just five points at halftime. Luckily, Greece regained their form in the second half and went 14-19. Heading into the second quarter, a three-pointer from Vokapuyan helped Greece close the gap, but several players from Montenegro also stepped up to stop the Greek counterattack, leaving the two sides deadlocked. Even with Vucevic's departure, Montenegro still maintains the advantage. At halftime, Montenegro led Greece 36-30.
At the start of the third quarter, both teams still had low shooting percentages and struggled to score. Montenegro's Šimonović scored with a breakthrough in the middle to help the team extend their lead again. However, Greece fought back and chased the gap to six points. At this point, Vucevic played a key role. At the end of the first three quarters, Montenegro led Greece 50-42. Heading into the final quarter of the decisive game, Montenegro unleashed a 10-4 offensive wave to widen the gap to 14 points, while Greece struggled poorly on the offensive end. In the last five minutes, Vucevic returned to the field. However, Montenegro's increased mistakes gave Greece the opportunity to narrow the gap to just four points. At the crucial moment, Vucevic stepped up and scored consecutive points under the basket to seal the victory. Despite Papanikau's two consecutive three-pointers, Greece didn't have enough time to turn things around. In the end, Montenegro defeated Greece 73-69.
After winning the match, Montenegro confirmed the third place in the semi-final group. According to the regulations, the third place in the four groups will be ranked 9 to 12 according to the results, so Montenegro already has a guarantee of finishing in the top 12, their best result since participating in the World Cup. Montenegro is playing in the World Cup for the second time, after finishing 25th four years ago. Since its separation from Serbia, Montenegro has not had a high presence in European basketball. However, in this World Cup, Montenegro made fans remember this small country of only 620,000 people through its actual performance. As for Greece, with only 2 wins and 3 defeats in their World Cup journey, it is indeed a bit pessimistic.
The two parties exchange data
In the game, Vucevic showed his prowess, with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Dubjevic, on the other hand, played well, contributing four points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Mikhailovic also contributed to the team, where he scored 10 points. Radoncic also performed quite well, scoring 12 points. In addition, Ivanovic scored 7 points and 5 rebounds in the game.
The performance of the Greek players can be summarized as follows: Papayannis scored 5 points and 4 rebounds in the game, while Papanikolau contributed 13 points and 4 rebounds. Rogkavopros scored seven points, while Walkap excelled with 11 points and six assists. In addition, Papapetlu scored 16 points, while Bohoridis had 13 points and six rebounds.
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